۵ Chapter One ۵
725 Words
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Chapter One
albatross
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⌇The Queen's Veil⌇
An obsolete village in the Northernmost Kingdom of Snowfall; a mountainous snow biome. The Queen's Veil is collectively held inside a magical periwinkle dome created by the mages of The Spire to protect the inhabitants from the ice dragons. A small waterfall named Izur's Tears (after King Christofre the 2nd's dragon), and Miriam's lake are its most famous landmarks. The dome protects and keeps the citizens safe from the outside elements; however, it comes at a cost. Anybody under the age of eighteen, born and bred inside the village, cannot leave - a sort of binding magical contract signed at birth. If they try, their body turns to a lilac dust, blending with the ground. Into nothing.
Dainty snowflakes lingered in the icy air before fluttering down atop the Princess' head like lotus petals. They danced around her in the cold wind.
Her lashes caught some like a canopy; and the ones that landed in her long, braided, platinum hair blended in like the details on a tapestry.
She reached down and picked up a half-buried, sharp slice of flint, and turned it thrice in her pale fingers. She pulled it across her dainty wrist, and watched as the cerulean blood seeped out of the thin incision.
She dropped the flint in horror and felt a hand to the warm liquid. There was scarcely any pain, but enough to shock her back to life. A single trickle of blood slid down her arm and dug a blue crevice into the deep snow.
Her heart beat heavily in her ears, her feet sunk deeper into the snow. Her bright, opal eyes shone in the moonlight; a single icy tear dripped down her cheek.
"Do you believe me now, Princess?" A soft and calming voice called through the darkness.
She turned her head to face the source of the gentle voice. A dark-skinned man emerged from the snowy flora. Broad shoulders and a stocky figure, handsome face and sorrowful yellow eyes. A great-sword of bright iron cling to his hip.
She knew at once who he was and who the voice belonged to. This was the man she had spent her entire life with, the man that had saved her life years before; though she had only been revealed this truth hours before.
Yet, she could not bring herself to look into his bisque eyes.
His head arched shamefully. "You must find it in your heart to forgive me, Princess." He spoke softly. "In time you will come to understand why I kept it from you."
Her face turned sour.
He furrowed his dark brows. "I know you are angry with me. I know you are upset. I know you must be afraid, Princess." He said gently and took a step closer, his arm outstretched.
I can't bear to hear that name. She thought. I am no Princess, I never have been, and I never will be.
"I am not a Princess." She said, so quiet it was almost a whisper.
The man took a deep inhale of the icy air. "You're right. You are not a Princess. You are my Queen."
She shook her head, brushing snowflakes from her hair. "I fear that is much worse." Her blue blood leaked onto the snow floor in single droplets, like the tears from her cheeks.
She touched the wound, as if to remind herself it was real, and noticed her mentor staring at it with a worried look in his eye.
"It doesn't hurt." She reassured with a furrowed brow. "Not anymore."
The man nodded, his lips slowly curved into a smile. "Of course not, my Queen. For you have dragon's blood." He said, taking another step forward.
She frowned. "The dragons are gone, Ser."
The man smiled brightly. "Oh, but they are not, my Queen. You will soon believe me, and take my words for truths."
"Ser, what if I never believe you?" She asked timidly.
He smiled once more and gently took a hold of her cold cheek, then took one of his fingers - the one in which the jewelled ring hugged - and lifted her head up by the chin.
"You will, Ashai. Trust me, as you always have. You will believe me, and when the time comes. You will know what to do."
- Writer
